Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Cardano Risk Management B.V.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,237 shares during the quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $106,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $216.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $341.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $141.03 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $216.53 and a 200 day moving average of $191.84.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley hired Adam Kweskin, a diversified-industries banker from Bank of America, to join its Global Industrials Investment Banking Group. The addition could strengthen the firm’s dealmaking capacity and support investment-banking fees if corporate activity remains robust. Morgan Stanley hires BofA’s Kweskin to cover diversified industries
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted improving capital-markets conditions and continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management business, reinforcing the investment case for its more diversified revenue mix. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley-led banks are reportedly preparing to distribute approximately $15 billion of debt associated with a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction underscores Morgan Stanley’s opportunity to generate fees from the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure financing market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Approval of a key element of Morgan Stanley’s proposed billion-dollar Dallas regional hub represents a long-term investment in its operating footprint, though the project is not expected to materially affect near-term earnings. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s second-quarter Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund update provides additional visibility into its private-credit platform, but the available report does not include enough detail to determine a meaningful impact on MS valuation. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Posts Q2 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Another Morgan Stanley banker reportedly moved to Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, highlighting the ongoing risk of losing experienced dealmakers as global energy and investment activity intensifies. Another Morgan Stanley Banker Lands Top Investment Role at ADNOC

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.